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Chapter Four – Unpredictability
At Romance HQ, unpredictability has become the buzzword of 2011 – we’re constantly discussing and promoting ways to ensure our authors are producing the most exciting stories possible. Our long-term emphasis on innovative emotional conflict means this has been on our editorial radar for a while, but what better forum than New Voices than to spread the word again?
So, here’s a sneak preview of what the New Voices team have to say about unpredictability this year…
The Unpredictable Route to Happy-Ever-After!
So, here’s the lowdown…
First up, reassure yourselves that we get some incredible submissions from aspiring authors – there’s nothing more exciting that reading a new author voice for the first time and realising that they just ‘get’ it. However, less successful submissions tend to share a common flaw - a reliance on the same tried-and-tested conflicts and themes. This ‘Mills & Boon by numbers’ approach (‘I’ll write a Greek hero and a marriage of convenience!’) can lead to stories feeling unoriginal and predictable – aka not something our readers enjoy. Who wants to buy a book when they can guess exactly how the relationship will pan out from page 1?
Hence the campaign for more unpredictable storytelling!
For everyone who likes a definition, in Romance HQ-speak, an unpredictable story delivers a compelling happy-ever-after that takes the reader on an unanticipated, cliché-free and emotionally engaging journey. (I.e. not crazy plot twists, inconsistent behaviour or random genre mash-ups – it’s definitely not an excuse to replace conflict with crashing plot devices!)
Don’t panic, we’re not asking for radical differences! Everyone has their favourite themes that they love to read and write about - cowboys, babies, Greek tycoons… - the list is endless and of course you can still explore them. But whilst your romances should deliver on series promise and fulfil reader expectations, more than ever we need to see that they do this in a fresh and unique way.
How, though?
You’ve heard this before, and we’ll say it again – it’s all in the characters! The best way to create a strong conflict and story is by starting with two interesting, original characters with a compelling story to tell. You should know them inside out and back to front: what makes them tick? What are their loves, their hates, their fears, hopes and dreams? Favourite colour, food, outfits…no detail is too small when you’re getting inside the heads of these two people! It’s only by fleshing out all these details that you’ll end up with real, rounded people with hidden depths that steer well clear of the cliché trap.
As for their character conflicts, here’s a chance to stretch your imagination! To be fair, it actually doesn’t take much to give a character an issue they need to resolve before they can be happy – even something as insignificant as being the middle child can be spun out into a fascinating and engaging conflict. However, developing a thoroughly unique character conflict is a fab opportunity to grab an editor’s attention, showing us something we’ve never seen before!
So, if you want to tackle a more controversial theme, go for it! Alternatively, think about ways you can twist the classic conventions and surprise your reader e.g. what different spin can you put on the ‘marriage of convenience’ or ‘falling for your boss’ themes? Originality is the name of the game here – if you’ve already seen it before, try and come up with a new approach, taking your reader on twists and turns they haven’t been on before.
There you have it – the unpredictability debate. Whatever your stance on it, it’s undeniably a hugely exciting opportunity for all you writers who want to bring something different to series romance
We can’t wait to see how you rise to the challenge!
That’s unpredictability in general, but editorial blogger Flo has some more specific advice on how to ensure your ending is as innovative as possible…
Happy endings - thinking outside the (diamond ring) box Posted 2nd July 2011 http://community.millsandboon.co.uk/forums/behind-scenes-romance-hq/happy-endings-thinking-outside-diamond-ring-box
Hi all
Today, one of my closest friends is getting married. Three things are guaranteed: she’ll be a beyond-beautiful bride, I’ll cry my eyes out (waterproof mascara at the ready) and my champagne-induced dance moves will be cringetastic in the extreme. I don’t actually think I could be more excited if I tried!
So, as befits a fellow Romance HQ editor, she’s living the bridal dream. From stunning dress to fairytale country setting and (rocking some positive mental attitude) glorious sunny weather, her happy-ever-after is just beginning. And days like this remind everyone of why weddings will always have a huge significance in series romance – it’s the perfect way to celebrate all things love-related!
But is getting married still the ultimate romantic fantasy?
What happens if weddings aren’t in your characters’ life plans: maybe once was enough, so that even Mr Right going down on bended knee can’t convince your heroine to put another ring on her finger? Or does the traditional set-up no longer appeal? Just think of Hollywood royalty Tim Burton and Helena Bonham-Carter living in their neighbouring houses – they’ve thrown out the old traditions and created a new personal take on ‘forever’.
Or, finally, perhaps other fantasies have replaced the bridal one! Take me, for example - at the impressionable age of fifteen, my crushingly unsentimental dad told me he’d either pay for my wedding, or buy me a swanky range cooker. Now, don’t get me wrong, I want it all: the man, the family, the job and the happy ending. But, if pushed, I’m still not sure which one I’d rather go for – although, obviously, holding out for both…!
Of course, the overturning of this (let’s face it) rather depressing un-romanticism can make a wedding even more special. But a trip up the aisle definitely isn’t the only way to deliver a spine-tingling happy ending: from the moment Hugh Grant asked Andie MacDowell in Four Weddings and a Funeral to not marry him for the rest of his life and my heart melted, I’ve had a weakness for romances in which romantic traditions are broken with, but it’s 100% clear that forever is guaranteed for the couple!
But is that just me? As wedding fever sweeps the office, the big question we’re debating this week is whether a diamond ring is still the ultimate expression of a happy-ever-after. Maybe a romance isn’t complete for you unless it ends in a proposal, or do you want to see more individual ways of characters expressing their love? Or is it all about making the wedding and/or proposal as unique as possible? These questions have us all in a flurry, and we’d love to know your take on it!
As I celebrate and happy-cry my way through the wedding today, it’s going to feel absolutely perfect. But for those of you who can’t see your characters ever wanting to tie the knot, or if you feel really strongly that a happy ending is incomplete without a wedding, let us know!
Love Flo, desperately hoping that her preference for range cookers over wedding dresses doesn’t disqualify her from being a suitable Romance HQ employee…! x
Behind the Scenes at Romance HQ
The aim of this book is to give you the tools you need to write the most exciting, unputdownable Mills & Boon you can. However, just in case you wanted to know more about the editors who will be reading (and hopefully loving!) your writing, we thought you might enjoy a glimpse of the ‘behind the scenes’ life at Romance HQ…!
Last year’s New Voices website featured this great insight into the life of a Romance HQ editor – enjoy!
A week in the life of a Mills & Boon editor
What does an editor do??? You’ve heard about our fabulous editors – and their busy schedules – and we thought you might enjoy a week in a life from one of our editors who kept a diary this summer…
Monday 14th June (Mss read – 1; calorific treats – 1; letters written – 1, caffeine units – 3)
It’s another Monday morning at Romance HQ, and it begins like any other – cups of tea all round and a bit of a gossip. From manuscripts to TV shows to celebrity scandal (a recent Richmond spotting of Kate Middleton by one lucky editor had us all out on the street before you could say ‘royal wedding’), the editorial department excels at having strongly worded opinions about the stuff that matters! But football Cup fever has introduced an unexpected harmony – David Beckham has unanimously been voted our favourite player of all time, and given the amount of time we spend reading about Alpha males, we do consider ourselves expert judges…
But beyond the football, it’s also…conference season! Everyone is busy busy busy as the countdown starts to this year’s Romance Writers of America annual conference. With 9 fabulous authors nominated – our best total yet! – morale is super-high: all our authors’ hard work has paid off! As the day continues, thanks to temperamental (non-existent?) air-con, the in-office temperature is also through the roof. Cue good-natured envy of the three lucky eds attending who are soon jetting out to the balmy Florida sunshine…sigh…
Tuesday 15th June Mss read – 1 ¾ ; calorific treats – 2; letters – 0; caffeine units – 0 (trying to wean myself off the habit with herbal teas)
Our quarterly video conferences with the Harlequin New York and Toronto offices are a great chance to catch up on new innovations and to help celebrate any Harlequin-wide successes – although the sight of ourselves on video is an endlessly depressing experience! Fingers crossed no-one saw me discreetly eating my chocolate bar in the back-row…
Today, it’s the UK’s turn to take the floor, with an exciting presentation about the new UK-specific cover direction. The covers look incredible and the whole UK office is buzzing about them, particularly our entirely new series RIVA. The sparkling books that our talented authors write means that Mills & Boon is at the forefront of women’s fiction, and we can’t wait to see how many new readers our new look attracts! So, watch this space…they’ll be coming to a bookstore near you soon!
Wednesday 16th June Mss read – 1 2/3; calorific treats – uncountable; letters written – 1; caffeine units – 2 (herbal tea just didn’t cut it)
Somehow manage to cram in all my reading before an author comes for lunch - the only benefit of my long commute to work! Any summer-bikini-body diet plans are temporarily suspended - the chance to enjoy an author’s company over a three course meal and bottle of wine in a delicious Richmond restaurant is simply too irresistible! What’s more, the author-editor relationship can get pretty close – and in this email-centric world, nothing else quite captures the pleasure of spending time with our authors face-to-face. It’s a great chance to discuss career development, writing plans and anything else that springs to mind – this time, the endlessly fascinating Team Jacob vs. Team Edward debate takes us straight through to dessert.
Thursday 17th June Mss read – 1; calorific treats 1; letters written – 1.5; caffeine units – 3
After another busy day in the office, psyching myself up for an evening library talk. As a department, we’re often asked to speak to libraries/ writing classes etc – and I’m not going to lie, it can be pretty nerve-wracking, especially when there’s a big turnout! But it’s amazing to witness the nationwide passion and respect for our books that’s out there. Suddenly feels more like being in a book group with my friends than a work event, and I realise there’s nothing I’d rather do than help spread the Mills & Boon love! (Highlight of the evening – a reader mentioned one of her favourite books, and turned out I’d worked on it and also thought it was fab …it’s always nice to have your own opinion validated, especially about something as subjective as what makes a particular hero drop-dead-gorgeous…!)
Friday 18th June Mss read – ½; calorific treats – too many to count (colleague’s birthday – flurry of departmental baking ensures); letters written – 3; caffeine units – 3
After a non-stop week, Friday’s here before I know it, and it’s utterly hectic! Most exciting event of the day? Without a doubt, getting to ring an aspiring author and tell her we want to buy her book – nothing is more guaranteed to help end the week on a high! Buying a new author has to be one of the most rewarding parts of the job – in fact, it’s often hard to tell who’s more excited – the author or the editor! Being able to welcome someone new into the Mills & Boon family, especially having accompanied them on their journey from partial submission to publishable manuscript, is an immense privilege, and leaves me with an adrenaline high that keeps me going through last-minute meetings and some frantic tying up of loose ends before the weekend. Finally, it’s time to shut down the computers, take off our security tags and make the most of our Friday summer hours! Trip to the pub, anyone?!
Can you remember your first (Mills & Boon) love…?
Taken from the 2010 New Voices website, the Romance HQ editors look back on how they discovered the wonderful world of Mills & Boon…
During this morning’s coffee (and biscuit) break we asked around to find out what started the Romance HQ editors on their lifelong Mills & Boon habit!
I bought my first two in a bookstore in Bermuda on a desperate family holiday,1999 – there was a whole wall of Historical Romances and I couldn’t resist the lure of the regal purple! ‘Taming the Wolf’ by Deborah Simmons, and ‘A Passionate Pilgrim’ by Juliet Landon. (what an awful title!) They got passed around the school coach, to everyone’s delight – very all-girls-school.
But the one I return to again and again and again is ‘Lady Polly’ by Nicola Cornick – one of her earliest, with gorgeous hero and whilst not as sexy as her current ones, definitely hints at what’s to come! All fans should read it, it’s lovely! – Editor Flo Nicoll
I used to read and re-read anything by Emma Darcy and Helen Bianchin, especially linked family series – returning to my old favourites every Christmas and summer holidays off from school. Whenever I pick them up again now I’m overcome by both the romance and magic of the books…and an overwhelming sense of guilt that I should really be revising for my GCSE’s!! Editor Lucy Gilmour
I got my first Mills & Boon books in the library. I remember forcing my mum and dad to listen to a talking tape of a Carole Mortimer in the car with on the way to Cornwall one year, which quickly turned racier that my Dad was expecting… V embarrassing! Editor Jenny Hutton
It was a rainy day and I was about eight, and my Nan gave me a Mills & Boon book to read… I crept under her big kitchen table, next to the heater, curled up and was transported to a new world… I can’t remember the author and title but it was definitely set in a big house in Australia. When my Mum came home she whisked the book out of my hands in panic, until she realised it wasn’t a sexy author and I went back into my world of escape! I was hooked from that day forward. I only wish my Nan was still here to know that I’ve spent ten years living a dream, without her I wouldn’t be where I am today! Editorial Manager Kimberley Young
I read my first Mills & Boon when I was working at WHSmith. I used to go down into the store room and read any and all the Historicals until someone would find me and tell me to get back on the tills. An anonymous editor!
I got introduced to Mills & Boon while I was still at school. I went to a strict, all-girls establishment which frowned upon contact with the opposite sex (though I can’t recall that stopping us). I don’t remember who the authors were that we read, but in an atmosphere of high-octane teenage hormonal excitement, the books were passed around the sixth-form common room, cracked and battered, with the pages where the love scenes were turned down at the corner.
Once I got to university, my first year was spent in Halls and Lizzie, the girl rooming opposite me, was an M&B addict. Every night we put our waste-paper bins outside our doors for the cleaners to empty. There was always an M&B in Lizzie’s bin (she loved Georgette Heyer and the Angelique books as well). So I would purloin it and then pass on to my friend, Ros. It was this recycling that introduced me to Charlotte Lamb and her classic, THE LONG SURRENDER, which is still my all-time favourite today. Senior Executive Editor Tessa Shapcott
